This Remote Region in Spain Could Pay You Up to $16,000 to Move There

Looking for a change of scenery? A rural region of Spain is offering up to €15,000—roughly $16,600—to remote workers who are willing to relocate for at least two years.

The government of Extremadura, Spain, is hoping to attract digital nomads in a bid to boost its population. It has set aside €2 million ($2.2 million) for grants for up to 200 professionals who want to move to the Ambroz Valley, an area in northern Extremadura. Funding is available for housing, land and other necessities, according to the announcement.

The offering is part of an initiative called “Live in Ambroz.” In recent years, the rural valley’s population has been shrinking. If all goes well, the government wants to offer similar programs in other parts of Extremadura.

Applications for the grants are likely to become available around mid-September, reports Euronews’ Rebecca Ann Hughes. Interested parties must submit their applications electronically, and they should hear back within three months.

“If successful, [Live in Ambroz] could literally change the country, its economy and its love-hate relationship with tourism,” Patricia Palacios, co-founder of the travel blog España Guide, tells Condé Nast Traveler’s Kat Chen. “Hopefully the Ambroz Valley will be successful and set an example for many other rural areas to copy.”

The region is targeting individuals in the tech industry who can work 100 percent remotely. Applicants must be legal residents of Spain or participants in the country’s digital nomad visa program. They cannot have lived in Extremadura in the past six months.

Women, people under the age of 30, and anyone willing to relocate to a town in Extremadura with less than 5,000 residents are eligible to receive €10,000 ($11,000). All other successful applicants will receive €8,000 ($8,900).

If, after two years, digital nomads choose to stay for another year, the government will give them another €4,000 to €5,000 ($4,400 to $5,500).

Extremadura is an autonomous region in western Spain that shares a border with Portugal. It spans more than 16,000 square miles and is home to roughly one million residents.

Compared to other European regions, it’s an affordable place to live. A one-bedroom apartment in the city of Badajoz, for instance, goes for about $531 per month, according to USA Today’s Kathleen Wong. Extremadura is also home to freshwater beaches, wineries, forests, nature reserves, Roman ruins and Moorish architecture.

Extremadura is not the only place hoping to entice new residents with unconventional perks. In recent years, Presicce, Italy, offered up to $30,000 for people who purchased empty houses and lived in them, while Ireland paid $92,000 for people to refurbish houses on its islands.

Some American cities are also offering financial incentives to attract digital nomads, from Tulsa, Oklahoma ($10,000), to Topeka, Kansas ($15,000).

“Digital nomads can create value for their host communities through consumption, community volunteering, entrepreneurship, connections and mentoring,” Prithwiraj Choudhury, a scholar who specializes in the geography of work at Harvard Business School, tells Condé Nast Traveler. “However, this requires an active process of making connections between digital nomads and locals.”

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.